Whether your experience comes from the school chorus, a karaoke bar, or your shower, you're willing to show it off by singing in front of your buddies. That takes cojones, but you shouldn't be too reckless. A few cautionary measures will keep your throat in better shape, and enable you to sing the night away without much worry.

Know Your Limits

Learning to Breathe

Running out of breath during a song's verse won't help you, nor your bandmates. One of the most important aspects of singing is learning how to breathe effectively. Prior to any line of lyrics, you should take in a quick and deep-as-possible breath. When they're done, let out the rest of the air and bring in a fresh gulp of it (or just suck some more in if that feels better). Teach yourself to do this all of the time, and consider it as important to your performance as reading the words on-screen. If you strain yourself to complete sequences, you'll mess with your natural breathing pattern and wear yourself out quicker. Don't be a party pooper.

Aside from breathing regularly and correctly, there's other means that'll keep your throat healthy. One involves warm-ups, which involve singing in various tones and pitches. That'll get your vocal chords ready. Another is to sing only within your range. If you aren't aware of what it is, try singing along to some of your favorite songs with their volume turned relatively low. Whichever ones you can sing along and alike to without much trouble—maintaining harmony—are probably within your range. Truthfully, this isn't the most accurate means of determining what your range is, but unless you're willing to pursue professional analysis, it'll do.

If you can't hit the high notes naturally, don't fight it. Instead, drop an octave (see: "Octave," Glossary) and sing within your normal range. For some cases, the opposite is true, and you'll want to sing a little higher than the original artist. So long as you harmonize with them, you're doing A-OK, and RB2 will reward you for vocalizing correctly.

In any situation, you should remember to sing with your lungs, not just your throat. If you're being loud and want to add extra emphasis into higher notes, or need to last through a longer one, open your throat and let your breath come right through. Don't tighten up, ever. Not only will that decrease how long you'll be able to play for, it can literally hurt your throat and leave you sore.

One more thing: keep some water handy. That'll protect you even more, and will keep you hydrated. Guzzling juice, soda, or booze alone will only damage your chances of success, and potentially make you sick after hours and hours of dehydrated gaming.